


Dreaming with a Broken Vial

by spacevortex



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, F/M, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-06-27 12:04:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19790518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacevortex/pseuds/spacevortex
Summary: After working at Ashmore’s Amazing Apothecary, her father's Potions store for all her life, Cherie's parents finally revealed her missing Hogwarts letter, wanting to protect her from the evils of The Wizarding World. With the Dark Lord's inevitable rise, she must learn to defend herself with the help of her Hogwarts professors. However, Cherie always thought there was something mysteriously off about one of them, Professor Snape, yet she was somehow drawn to him. Well, it's not like a Potions Professor of a world-renowned wizarding school could be up to something, right? She had never been so wrong.(Set during Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)





	1. The Missing Letter

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, guys! This is my first time writing fanfiction and I have never written a story before, so comments and advise are greatly appreciated.
> 
> I hope you enjoy nevertheless!
> 
> (Rated M for future chapters)

As the sun rose on the morning of late August, Cherie was roused from her pleasant sleep by the bright rays on her eyes. _Just another boring day working at the store_ , she thought as she sat up. She took her time getting dressed and made her way downstairs, her mother was already up, making them breakfast and her father was on the table, reading the Daily Prophet.

“I made your favourite today,” said her mother. 

“Fried eggs and toast!” she cheered.

She took her usual seat at the wooden table, opposite her father, and grabbed a generous amount of toast and eggs.

“Make sure to hurry, we’ll be heading off soon, as you know it’s the busiest day for us.” her father said.

She nodded as she stuffed her mum’s delicious food in her mouth and quickly ate in silence. When she cleaned her plate, she thanked her mum and made her way to the front door with her father.

“Ready?” he said.

“Yep,” she responded.

As they linked hands, she felt her body twist and turn but did not feel nauseous as she got used to apparating with her father to their store every working day. They arrived right at the front of their small store in the quieter areas of Diagon Alley. Her father withdrew his wand and undid protective enchantments around the front of his tiny wooden store that possessed a slightly worn down sign: 'Ashmore’s Amazing Apothecary'.

Not even a minute after nine o’ clock, the shop’s opening time. A customer walked in asking for some few ingredients: aconite petals, a scoop of glittery-black beetle eyes and bezoars. Time flew by quickly for Cherie as she was almost always occupied with assisting customers by finding their requested potions and ingredients or helping her father brew requested potions that would take a few days or months to produce. 

The sun began to set and the number of customers started to grow smaller and smaller until it was finally closing time. Cherie and her father began to clean up and store away potions and ingredients in the storage room. After packing their belongings and getting ready to leave, her father spotted a familiar looking envelope, with a seal of a crest of four animals addressed to his own daughter. Knowing what it was, he quickly hid it in his pocket.

“What’s that?” asked Cherie.

“Oh it’s nothing, just another order from a customer,” he lied.

Soon they apparated back home together. As they went into the house, they were greeted by a dinner table filled with mouth-watering food to their surprise. Her mother gave them a smile and chuckled.

They both dug in as quick as they could, putting excessive amounts of food on their plates. Dinner was filling and satisfying for both of them, as Cherie ate so much she started to feel drowsy.

“I think I’m gonna call it a day, the food was just brilliant, thanks Mum!” 

Cherie got up, left the table and went straight to her room to shower and get ready for bed.

Her parents continued eating, they cleaned up the food and dishes with a flick of their wands and prepared for bed. When no sound could be heard from Cherie’s room, her father decided it was safe to inform her mother about the letter.

“Can you believe it, Helen? A fourth year in a row, they haven’t stopped trying. What should we do now? Should we finally give in?” asked her father

“It’s still far too dangerous for her, we need to keep her safe. I’ve heard the Dark Lord shared the body of a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor last year to gain the Philosopher’s stone for himself. Who knows what he plans to do this year.”

“You’re right, it’s getting increasingly dangerous to let her attend Hogwarts, we will just have to continue tutoring her at home where it’s safe so she doesn’t fall behind in knowledge.”

The moment they turned off the lights they heard a loud shattering of ceramic kitchenware coming from the lower floor of their house.

“I’ll go check” whispered her father as he whipped out his wand. 

He quietly stepped out from their bedroom and tiptoed down the stairs avoiding the areas he knew would creak when stepped. When he reached the bottom of the stairs to the living room, a tall shadowy figure could be seen from the kitchen.

“Who’s there? I’m not afraid to hurt you!” he said confidently.

“Would you, Alatar?” the stranger said calmly.

The stranger’s voice devoid of the slightest sign of anger gave his mind a small nudge. _I’ve heard this voice before_ he thought.

“Merlin’s Beard! It’s you, professor.” he said as he casted a non-verbal Lumos Maxima.

“Alatar, how happy I am to see you well. Sorry for the noise, you are quite a talented one in casting protective enchantments around your house. Almost had to give it my all when breaking in.” smiled Dumbledore as he gave his wand a flick and all the broken kitchenware flew back repaired into its original location.

“No worries, what can I do for you?” 

“I have come to warn you of the severity of your actions. We both know she is truly not safe here with Voldemort’s return."

Alatar flinched at the name.

“She will be less safe and less prepared to defend herself in the future when she is not professionally taught. I am aware that she is very capable of brewing exceptional potions by serving as your apprentice and is competent of high level magic for her age. Don’t you think it is time you trusted her in our hands after asking for the fourth year in a row? I can guarantee you, Alatar, she will be safe.”

“How about the previous school year where Quirrel was serving for Lord Voldemort all this time!”

“You surely can't deny the precious opportunity for her to finally have her own friends. And how about her OWLs and future qualifications, are you not going to give her the freedom of living her own life?” said Dumbledore.

They both sat in silence, only the minor sound of leaves rustling in the wind were heard outside.

“Blimey, Alatar I thought you were dead for Merlin’s sake. Oh, Professor! What brings you here?” said Helen hastily as she rushed downstairs.

“Alatar and I were just discussing about the safeness of your daughter, Helen. I assume you know what needs to be done,” Dumbledore said calmly.

“There’s no denying, the Dark Lord wants her. I guess there is no point in hiding her further. But swear to me Professor, you keep her safe. Make sure no one apart from those you trust will know," said Helen.

“You have my word." smiled Dumbledore.


	2. The Sorting Ceremony

It was still early morning when Cherie woke up, 11 o'clock she had to be there at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, plenty of time she thought. She took her time getting dressed, making sure she didn’t look odd as she did not want unwanted attention or weird glances at the “new kid”.

Cherie did not know how she felt when her parents explained about her Hogwarts letter. She was mad, excited, happy, scared, she just couldn’t stop thinking about how her own parents kept it from her. There she was, wondering since she was eleven years old if she was even qualified to attend Hogwarts and now, she’s finally going to study there!

Yesterday she managed to find everything herself in Diagon Alley as she was so used to wandering around when there aren't any customers to serve. She went alone as she was too upset to talk to her parents. When trying to make new friends, she was no doubt a shy and awkward person and so never really had any friends since she was a little girl. This too was her parent doing as they didn’t allow her the freedom of hanging out with strangers. Just in case she was unpopular with her classmates she decided to get herself a black owl with her own earnings and decided to name him Argo, after the great alchemist and author, Argo Pyrites whom she looked up to.

By the time she finished getting dressed, made final checks around her room for forgotten items and ate her breakfast alongside a goblet of pumpkin juice, it was time for her to leave.

They apparated outside King’s Cross Station and made their way to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Still upset with her parents, she gave them a tight hug nonetheless.

“I wonder which house you’ll be sorted in. See, we have a bet between your mother and I. If you’re in my house, Ravenclaw, she owes me a bottle of my favourite firewhiskey," her father said.

“And if you’re placed in Slytherin, I’m making him cook dinner for once!” laughed her mother.

Steam was already rising from the engines of the Hogwarts Express ready to leave. She waved them a final goodbye and ran with her trunk onto the train. She found a place to store her trunk and walked along the corridors to look for a compartment with the kindest looking people. She found a compartment with a pair of redhead twins laughing with three other girls.

She slid the compartment door just wide enough to peer her face inside.

“Uh, hello. Do you mind if I sit with you guys.”

“Not at all” said a younger looking girl “I’m Hermione by the way, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Fred,” said one of the twins.

“And I’m George.”

“Ginny.”

“And Luna.” a soft voice spoke.

“Pleasure to meet you all, I’m Cherie,” she stammered as she shook all of their hands.

“Haven’t seen you around before, are you new? You seem too old for a first year,” said Ginny.

“This is my first year at Hogwarts but I’m starting at fourth year.”

“Wicked, she’s the same year as us!” said George.

“You must be very special if Dumbledore were to let you in like that. You see, Hogwarts doesn’t usually allow that. I’ve read that in Hogwarts, A History” said Hermione.

“Yep, I know. I’ve read that too,” smiled Cherie.

“Blimey, I didn’t know there was another Hermione” laughed Fred.

“Ginny and I are also starting our first year here, any ideas on which house you’ll be sorted in?” asked Luna.

“Most likely Slytherin or Ravenclaw. My mother’s a Slytherin and my father’s a Ravenclaw.”

“You don’t seem like a Slytherin, you’re really nice," said Hermione.

“Just pray to Merlin, you won’t be sorted in Slytherin. It’s full of dark wizards and there’s that Malfoy prick,” said Fred.

Throughout the train ride she got along pretty well with them, they kept asking questions about her and what she was doing before her acceptance at Hogwarts. They seemed like genuine nice people she thought to herself. She felt so accomplished she was able to make such considerate friends that she treated them to some Chocolate Frogs, Liquorice Wands and Pumpkin Pasties.

After what it seems like forever, Hermione informed us that they were approaching the castle soon. She went to change into her school robes and on the way back into their compartment she was stopped by a group of three younger Slytherin boys.  
“Well, well isn’t it Ashmore. My father told me your mother brought shame to her Slytherin family. Ran away didn’t she,” said the young blonde haired boy.

“Shut up. I know who you are, Malfoy. Don’t act like you’re any better,” she spat.

“Come on, Crabbe, Goyle. Let’s leave this pathetic failure alone.”

 _Great, someone already hates me_ , she thought. When she arrived back at her compartment, the train slowly came to a complete halt. She managed to catch Hermione before she left the compartment and they made their way together out onto the station.

“Firs’ years! Firs’ years follow me!” a loud voice was heard.

“You might need to ask Hagrid where you need to go,” Hermione pointed at the bearded face above the sea of heads, “I’m not so sure myself.”

They walked towards the direction Hermione pointed to and asked him where she needed to be.

“Firs’ years! Firs’ yeー Ah, yeh must be Cherie Ashmore. Dumbledore told me ter keep an eye for yer. I’m Hagrid by the way.”

“Nice to meet you!”

“All right there Hermione? Where’s Harry an’ Ron?”

“I haven’t seen them anywhere on the train. They’re probably up to something mental that would get them expelled,” claimed Hermione.

“Sorry to hear that, Hermione. I’ll tell Professor Snape as soon as I can.”

Hagrid lead the rest of the first years along with Cherie to a steep, dark path leading into a forest.

“Thanks a lot Hermione! I’ll meet you in the castle,” said Cherie.

She managed to find Luna and Ginny in the crowd of first years with the aid of Hagrid’s lamp.

“We’re almost there, jus’ round here. Then yeh’ll be able to see Hogwarts from here,” called Hagrid from the back.

After a minute she could see the castle perched on a mountain in the starry night sky. She had never thought anything could be this breathtaking. Clearly she hasn’t been out much in her life, apart from leaving to work at her father’s potions store. In front of her was a pitch black lake. She was careful not to make any contact with the water as everyone got on the boats on the shore.

“No more’n four to a boat!” yelled Hagrid.

She sat at the back of a boat, shared with Luna, Ginny and a boy she did not know.

“All ready?” checked Hagrid, “Forward!” he then shouted.

Instantly the boats all moved, synchronised at the same pace towards the castle. Everyone was too distracted by what was in front of them to chatter amongst themselves. The boats halted once they reached a gathering of sharp pebbles and large rocks. She almost wished she could stay in the boat until sunrise to admire the castle, but that was probably a bad idea. Once she and all the first years got off the boats, Hagrid led them to a set of stony stairs on a steep cliff and knocked loudly on the great oak door.

A tall witch stood behind the oak door as it opened and her eyes met with Cherie’s green.

“Everyon’, this is Professor McGonagall.”

“Thank you, Hagrid. Now everyone, follow my lead,” said Professor McGonagall.

She lead them into a small room, Cherie could hear the sounds of loud chattering coming from the otherside of the stone walls and it made her stomach sank. She was nervous that she would stand out, being the only fourth year getting sorted.

Professor McGonagall explained all the school rules and houses to everyone which Cherie already knew about. At least I wasn’t the only one looking like I ate a bunch of aconite leaves she thought as she looked at the other first year’s expression. They too looked exceedingly nervous. The older witch told everyone to wait as she went into the loud room next door to check if everything was in order.

Too nervous to stay quiet, she asked Luna and Ginny what houses they were expecting to be sorted into.

“All my family are Gryffindors,” answered Ginny. “I’ll probably be disowned if I don’t get sorted there myself,” she laughed.

“Like yours, my dad’s also a Ravenclaw, so it’s highly likely I’ll be in Ravenclaw as well!” replied Luna.

Professor McGonagall came back shortly after and told them to follow through the room next door. While Cherie followed the crowd, she was stopped by the Professor.  
“Ashmore, you wait here. I’ll call you shortly after.”

She waited in the small room by herself, her stomach churning from the nervousness and hunger she kept to herself. Every minute she could hear the loud cheers from the students behind the walls.

After what it seemed like almost half an hour. McGonagall came for her and escorted her into a large hall with several floating candles and a magnificent ceiling which she knew was bewitched to look like the sky from reading Hogwarts, A History. As she was walking to the stool in front of her, she could see all the eyes gazing upon her with confused looks. However, she sensed a stronger, cold gaze fixed on her body from the teacher’s table as she walked. She didn’t dare to look.

“Everyone please welcome Ashmore, Cherie! She will be joining us as a fourth year student this school year. Please make her feel like home!” clarified Professor McGonagall.

Everyone gave her a massive round of applause. The loudest clap of hands were from the twins. Professor McGonagall then directed her to sit on a stool and placed a dusty old hat on her head.

“Hmm… Interesting,” a voice echoed. “You have a brilliant, gifted mind yet so determined and ambitious indeed, you must be a very talented young girl.”

The whole hall sat in silence for what seemed like minutes while they waited for the hat’s final decision. “I can see you doing well in Ravenclaw you know, however Slytherin will lead you to better greatness and success. I’ve made up my mind. I shall put you in ー SLYTHERIN,” the hat shouted the last word to the hall.

Massive applause could be heard from a table she assumed were full of Slytherins. She went and sat with the older looking Slytherin students next to a blonde nicer looking witch.

“Hello I’m Cherie. Nice to meet you.”

“Pleasure. I’m Amelia.”

The hall became silent as the Headmaster rose from his seat. She instantly recognised him as Albus Dumbledore.

“Welcome, our new students to Hogwarts and for our older students, welcome back to another year! Now let us dive in at last!”

Plates of roast beef, chicken, potatoes, pudding, carrots and every other dish she loved appeared right in front of her. She has never felt so hungry in her entire life. After her first bite of Hogwarts food, she never expected it would be as brilliant as her mum’s home cooking. After her eating speed started to die down, she used the opportunity to talk to more people around her. They didn’t seem as interested in her as Hermione and the others did which made her slightly disappointed as her house members were supposed to be like “family”.

Moments after everyone has managed to stuff themselves with as much food as possible. The food disappeared along with the chattering and the headmaster rose up once again. He reminded us to keep off the Forbidden Forest and not use magic between classes in the corridors. Also he introduced the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart which got a lot of giggles from the majority of girls. After his speech, he dismissed us and the Slytherin prefect, Felix led her and the first years down to the dungeons. Cherie instantly found it freezing.

“Horned serpent,” he muttered. The door leading to the Slytherin common room opened.

There were different shades of green across the dimly lit room with many pillars of stone surrounding the walls and a bunch of leather seats next to a great and cozy fireplace. She made her way up to the girl’s dormitory to locate her bed to find that her trunk was already brought up from the train. She shared a room with Amelia and two other fourth year girls who didn’t bother introducing themselves to her. Amelia also told her that she wasn’t too close with them too, so she thought it was better to not bother them. She showered and got herself ready for bed, excited to see her timetable tomorrow at breakfast.


	3. To The Rescue

It was early morning when Cherie shot up from her rising nervousness and body temperature. She had a nightmare where she was extremely late for her classes, and managed to pull herself detention on her first day. She breathed in and deeply sighed in relief that it was just a stupid dream. As she couldn’t go back to sleep, she decided to get up and get dressed before anyone woke up. By the time she finished, she went into the Great Hall to see that breakfast has just started. Only a few students and some teachers were up this early. When she was making her way to the Slytherin table, she found Hermione sitting alone.

“Hey Hermione, you’re up pretty early today. Mind if I sit with you?” asked Cherie.

“Oh, not at all! I’m just doing some light revision before class to make sure I’ll be ahead of everyone else,” Hermione said casually.

“I’m pretty certain you’re already ahead of everyone in your current year group and the next,” Cherie laughed.

“I’m pretty disappointed you’re in Slytherin, our house are rivals. But I’m sure you’ll do well regardless of your house,” Hermione reassured.

When they both got their timetables, Hermione asked her what she chose to study.

“I’m doing Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy along with the required subjects,” she answered.

“Oh no! You have double potions on Friday last period. That’s gotta be annoying,” Hermione commented.

“What do you mean ‘oh no’, I love potions,” she looked confused.

“Not that, Cherie. It’s the professor, Professor Snape. He’s known to be really strict and he never really likes anyone,” she whispered and pointed at the tall black figure who came strutting into the hall. “I’m just giving you a heads up. However, you might find him more reasonable to you than to us Gryffindors. That’ll be because he’s your head of house and he tends to favor Slytherin students,” Hermione paused. “Oh, Harry and Ron are here” her tone was dreary from her disapproval of their method of travelling to Hogwarts.

“Blimey, Hermione. Why is this Slytherin sitting next to you,” Ron said with disgust.

“Oh don’t mind him. By the way, Ron and Harry. This is my new friend, Cherie. A new fourth year Hogwarts student and she’s really nice.”

Cherie shook their hands.

“I’m surprised there’s people here who want to be friends with you, Hermione,” said Ron.

Before Hermione could hit him with an insult, several owls came flying down, dropping parcels and letters for many students. Ron was the only one with a red envelope which ended up being a Howler from his mother regarding the use of his father’s car. Several students and professors looked at them including Professor Snape who gave them a cold, hard stare of disgust, she instantly looked away. After breakfast, they parted ways and she checked her timetable. Herbolgy with the Hufflepuffs, she saw.

She followed the other fourth year Slytherins to the greenhouse. The Herbology teacher, Professor Sprout was standing in front of a table full of plants with purple bulbs and leaves growing from the top.

“Who here can tell me what this is,” Professor Sprout asked her class.

Everyone stared blankly at the Herbology professor. Cherie unconfidentally raised her hand slowly.

“Yes, miss…?”

“Ashmore, ma’am,” she paused. “These are called Bouncing Bulbs, they are the younger version to be exact and they are an essential ingredient in brewing Pompion Potions”

“Well done, Ms. Ashmore. Ten points to Slytherin!”

The Hufflepuffs stared at her.

“Today we will be working in pairs to re-pot Bouncing Bulbs as they can be really tough to handle,” said Professor Sprout. “One of you might need to use a knockback jinx to get it under your control.”

Right as she finished her sentence, Cherie looked around to see everyone already matching up. However she was surprised when a Hufflepuff boy approached her.

“Hello, my name’s Cedric. Noticed you were new here. How about we work together?”

“Sure, my name’s Cherie. Thanks for asking, I was almost afraid I wouldn’t have a partner,” she smiled.

She noticed some of her female classmates glaring at her like she did something wrong. During Herbology class, she got along with Cedric really well. Her next class was Care of Magical Creatures with the Gryffindors, she worked with Fred and George. They had fun together feeding Fire Crabs and trying to dodge the flames that shot out from their rear end. Her last class was Arithmancy, a subject she hadn’t touched on a lot beforehand, she very much enjoyed the difficulty of analysing numerical charts nevertheless.

After her morning class of History of Magic the next day, she finally had her free period. Her teachers were kind enough to not give them too much work on the first week so she managed to finish them last night before she slept. With nothing better to do before her next period (and her all time favourite subject), Potions, she decided to read the first chapter by the Black Lake as the common room and library had far too many students for her liking.

Making her way down to the Black Lake she was stopped by three Gryffindor students.

“Well well, Ashmore! I heard rumors that you’ve been getting close to Cedric,” an arrogant looking Gryffindor approached her. “I advise you to stay away from him as I was here first,” she spat.

“I don’t know what you mean. I haven’t done anything. He’s just my friend, it was him who approached me,” she reasoned with the Gryffindor.

“Don’t deny it, Ashmore. You like him don’t you,” she pointed her wand at Cherie. “Oh, what’s wrong? Too scared to fight? What a lousy coward,” her friends laughed.

“Don’t make me fight you, you’ll regret it,” said Cherie. She calmly drew out her wand in response.

“Furnunculus!,” shouted the Gryffindor.

“Protego!”

The spell ricocheted off her shield charm and went straight for the Gyffindor’s friend. Numerous boils started to form on her face. She instantly cried for help whilst Cherie giggled to herself.

Swiftly, a shadowy cloaked figure came towards them.

“She did it, Professor!,” she pointed at Cherie.

“Twenty points from Gryffindor, Ms. Moore. Perhaps next time you’ll remember to stay away from other people businesses,” Professor Snape said coolly. “Now, Ms. Taylor. Would you take her to the hospital wing away from my sight before I decide to deduct more points.”

In a second, they vanished from Professor Snape’s sight. He then turned to Cherie.

“Ms Ashmore, would you care to explain why were you wandering around here yourself?”

She shivered upon hearing his silky smooth but dangerous voice.

“I w-was making my way down to the lake, S-Sir,” she stammered. “I was planning to read alone in a quiet spot.”

Professor Snape glanced at the book she was holding on to, ‘Magical Drafts and Potions’ by Arsenius Jigger. Was she planning to study ahead for my class, he wondered.

“To prevent you from getting into further trouble, Ms Ashmore. You may wish to follow me to my classroom to read.” He then turned away from her. “That was quite an impressive shield charm for your age. Ten points to Slytherin,” he vaguely glanced back at her and continued walking.

She tried not to grin. Drawn in by his alluring voice, she decided to follow him. Professor Snape isn’t as bad as I imagined after all, she smiled to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy the first 3 chapters.
> 
> I'm currently working on Chapter 4. Will be posting it very soon!


	4. The Potions Master

They walked together in silence, Cherie behind his large cloak. Once they reached the Potions classroom, Professor Snape held the door for her to walk in. She was deeply intrigued by all the ingredients that lined the classroom walls.

“Never seen a potions classroom?” Snape mocked.

“Well no, sir. I’m just surprised by the amount of ingredients Hogwarts offers.”

Cherie walked around the classroom, reading the labels on various glass bottles whilst Snape took his seat at his desk and continued planning for his next class. With only fifteen more minutes until her class with Professor Snape, she decided to wander about his classroom instead. She was surprised he didn’t mind her looking through potion ingredients and opening several cabinets to peer inside. They continued minding their own business until class was about to start, she took a seat on the second row as she didn’t want to look too keen for her favourite subject. Not long afterwards, the classroom started to fill up and Amelia took a seat next to Cherie.

As Professor Snape lectured them about the importance of Wit-Sharpening Potions, her mind started to drift away as she got bored. 

“Ms. Ashmore,” snapped Snape. “Why aren’t you taking any notes,” he sneered. 

A few of her classmates sniggered.

“Nothing is new for me, sir.”

“Well then, if you're so self confident,” he paused. “Would you care to tell me what I need to add after I remix Armadillo Bile into the solution,” Snape challenged.

“You would have to remix it until the solution turns yellow from red. Then you remix ginger roots until it turns lime green,” she recited, not a single glance at her textbook. “Then mix the bile in again until it turns a shade of purple. After all that, you simmer the potion for exactly ten minutes, then add more ginger roots until it turns dark orange and finishes with a purple colour.”

The rest of the class along with Professor Snape kept quiet, he didn’t show any signs of defeat, his black eyes looked at her with distaste making her look away instantly. _Another insufferable know-it-all,_ he thought. He was debating whether to punish her for her arrogance or to simply acknowledge her intelligence. 

“Ms. Ashmore, detention. Friday after class, my office, do not be late,” said Snape. “I do not take arrogance from anyone, not even a student from my own house.”

Cherie swallowed hard, _what the hell?_ _How was that even ‘arrogance’_. Even though she wanted to argue back, this was Professor Snape she was dealing with. Still feeling greatly intimidated by his cold tone and his way of expressing bitterness, she thought it was best not to. She swore to never challenge him again. As class continued, she effortlessly took notes, she didn’t want Snape to scowl at her for a second time.

“As we have double potions on Friday evening, you will be expected to successfully brew your own Wit-Sharpening Potion. So by the end of this week, I expect at least two rolls of parchment on the uses, characteristics and effects of the potion. Anyone who fails to brew it will have to redo theirs on Saturday evening,” he dismissed the class.

After dinner with her friends, she got to work with her recent potions assignment in the common room. After several hours, she reached the end of her third roll of parchment. Reading over what she wrote, she realised she wrote too much. Although her work was messy, she thought the content was decent enough. With no more determination left for the day, she rolled up her completed essay and got ready for bed.

The next morning she made her way to Professor Snape's office, deciding to hand in her essay early as an apology for disrupting his class. She gave his door a few gentle knocks and to her surprise, there was no answer, she didn't know if she felt relieved. Deep down she also wanted to thank him for defending her from the Gryffindor girls, however she didn't want to make a big deal about it, especially to Professor Snape.

When she placed her work on his well organised desk, she can't help notice the half marked essay a first year had written on his table. She was quite sure it was the worst thing she has read in her life. Quickly scanning the written piece, she can't help but laugh at her professor's comments on every line, she can't help but feel sympathy for her professor. This is probably why he never smiles, she hypothesised.

Swiftly, the door slid open, revealing a tired and annoyed looking Professor Snape. His face was full of displeasure when he saw her.

"Ashmore. What on earth are you doing snooping around in my office."

She quickly dropped the parchment she was holding on to.

"S-Sorry, professor. I was here to send in the Wit-Sharpening Potions essay you requested but I couldn't help but notice this," she handed him the piece, her hands shaking. She smiled out of embarrassment.

"That insolent Gryffindor boy couldn't distinguish between fluxweed and knotgrass" he sighed.

Cherie tried not to laugh.

"However, you have no business looking through items on my desk without _my_ permission."

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again."

"Ashmore, you are aware that this is due by the end of this week, yes?"

"Yes, sir," she swallowed, looking at the wall behind her professor.

"You may leave."

She awkwardly went for the door, not daring to turn back as she made her way to breakfast in The Great Hall. 

Thursday came by hastily. Rumour had spread throughout Hogwarts that Cherie outsmarted Snape in potions that even a couple of her classmates had asked her to help with their Wit-Sharpening Potion essay that was soon due. She had offered to help, changing parts which were incorrect and suggested they included some important features of the potions the textbook had left out. From seeing what her professor had to deal with on a daily basis, Cherie wanted to make sure he had an easier time marking papers. She was pretty sure that was why he was so harsh to her and everyone else. 

After lunch, the fourth year Slytherins had their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with Professor Lockhart. Cherie was curious to know how a professor could list such awful and expensive books for such an important class.

When everyone took their seats and pulled out their copies of Lockhart’s books. Cherie noticed a bunch of portraits of Lockhart himself smiling with his pearly white teeth at everyone, she almost gagged. A few of her female classmates, including Amelia were blushing, they instantly turned red when Professor Lockhart strode down the set of stairs in front of them.

“Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award but I don’t talk about that. I didn’t get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!”

“Oh lord,” Cherie muttered to herself.

“Isn’t he amazing, Cherie?” Amelia whispered.

“Oh, yeah right,” she rolled her eyes.

“Today we will be practicing hex-breaker spells, the incantation is _Salvo hexia_ ,” said Lockhart. “You can find more on that on page thirty nine where I used that to protect a young woman from three evil wizards trying to rob her.”

Cherie could hear a couple of sighs from the boys.

“Well, let me demonstrate. But first I need a volunteer.”

Several hands shot up from her female classmates, including Amelia.

“How about you Ms. Ashmore, let’s see what this new girl is capable of!” Announced Lockhart.

Amelia glanced at Cherie with jealousy but encouraged her nevertheless. Cherie awkwardly stood up and walked to the front of the classroom.

“So Ms. Ashmore, I would like you to cast a hex, any kind. Maybe the most advanced one you know. Don’t worry, I’ll be able to deflect it.” Professor Lockhart whispered to her and gave her a confident smile.

“A-Alright.”

They took their positions, Cherie opposite Lockhart. With her wand at the ready, she aimed it towards her Professor’s head and shot out an instant scalping hex. The powerful hex swiftly struck the Professor head before he could shout out a deflection spell and knocked him over, his back hitting the cold hard floor with a thud.

“Cherie, You hurt Professor Lockhart!” cried Amelia.

“I didn’t mean to!” Cherie panicked.

Professor Lockhart sat up confidently, not showing any signs of pain. He ensured everyone that he was alright, and that was just a minor spell damage. However, several of the girls screamed when they got a clear look at him. His silky, wavy blonde hair was nowhere to be seen. When Lockhart stood up to fix his hair, that was when he knew that his beloved well cared for hair was gone.

“M-my hair!” Professor Lockhart panicked as he ran up towards the stairs leading to his office. “Class dismissed!” he managed to shout before he slammed the door and hid himself behind it.

There was a loud eruption of laughter from the class apart from Amelia and a few other girls who were greatly disappointed by their first lesson with Lockhart. Cherie could’ve sworn Amelia and every other girl avoided her in the dormitories that night.

When the sun rose the next morning, Cherie woke up to find that none of her roommates were still in bed. She was somewhat disappointed that Amelia didn’t bother to wake her up. Realising she was last to breakfast, she rapidly got ready and made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast. She had a gut feeling that none of the female students wanted to her to sit with them from what she did to Lockhart yesterday.

She opened the doors to the Great Hall to be greeted by several glares and laughter at her. _Am I wearing my robes the wrong way? What’s going on_ , she thought. Wanting to sit away from her classmates she walked towards the Gryffindor table to see Fred and George waving at her, she took a seat opposite them.

“Oi Cherie, we’ve been looking everywhere for you. We want to congratulate you for what you did to Lockhart yesterday, that stupid bastard really deserved it.”

“Well thanks but that was really just an accident. Wait how did you guys find out?”

“Everyone in the whole school knows about it, even the Professors,” George laughed.

“Oh crap, now I’m going to get so much unwanted attention,” panicked Cherie.

When they opened the doors to the Great Hall, Cherie hid behind the twins as they found a quieter spot on the Gryffindor table to eat. She noticed Professor Lockhart was nowhere to be seen as she scanned the teacher’s table. A second later, her eyes met with Professor Snape’s and she instantly looked away. Her stomach started to sink and she didn’t feel like eating anymore when she remembered what happened in her previous potions class.

After her morning History of Magic and afternoon Charms lessons, she met up with the twins outside the Snape’s classroom before going inside for their double potions. They were the last ones to enter and there were only two seats in the front of the class and one left at the back. Cherie unconsciously went for the single seat, however Professor Snape stopped her.

“To prevent more disturbances in my class. I’ll be separating the twins, Ms. Ashmore,” said Snape. “So move,” he paused. “Now.” 

Cherie hastily picked up all her books and swapped her seat with Fred quietly. Meanwhile, Professor Snape was giving the Slytherins and Gryffindors a runthrough of steps to concoct a Wit-Sharpening Potion. When he was done, the class got up and immediately got to work, afraid of not finishing it on time. 

Cherie perfectly sliced two pieces of ginger root on her first try and gently dropped it into the caldron, it turned lime green. She realised she was the first one to make her way to the cabinet to grab a bottle of Armadillo Bile. She mixed it in along with some Ground Scarab Beetles, until she noticed the familiar blood red colour slowly appearing. After stirring the potion for a short while, she readded the ingredients that she recalled doing back at her father’s potions store and allowed her now purple potion to simmer for ten sharp minutes. Finally having time to rest, she sat back down at her seat and waited.

“Blimey, Cherie. You okay there?” George asked. “I’ve been trying to talk to you for ten minutes straight.”

Cherie looked up at George who was in the middle of adding drops of bile into his solution.

“Oh sorry, George. I was so carried away I didn’t even notice,” apologised Cherie.

“It’s fine, don’t worry. Was gonna ask you, how much do I actually need of this?”

“Stop, stop. That’s far too much already, hold on.” she paused. “I can actually help you fix this while my solution is still simmering.”

“Wicked.”

To reduce the bile’s alkaline effects, Cherie went to grab a bottle of Rose Oil from the ingredients cabinet and added five drops into his caldron which made Snape eye her suspiciously. George’s caldron instantly turned back to blue.

“Thanks a lot, Cherie!” George whispered.

After a few more minutes, Cherie finalised her potion by adding the last slices of ginger root. Realising that there was at least forty minutes left for class, she didn’t want to draw even more attention to herself by finishing early so she grabbed her Charms textbook from her bag and read over what she learnt today while quietly helping George with his potion.

Snape’s eyes fell on her as she was invested in her book, he swiftly walked up to her table and snatched her book from her hand.

“Why are you doing your homework in my lesson, Ms. Ashmore,” he said in disgust.

“I finished, sir. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Snape looked down at her caldron, finding a perfect purple solution right before his eyes. He approved of the colour, thinness and smell of her solution. He took a small sample and downed it. He could feel the great effectiveness of her potion by just having a tiny amount of it that he was greatly impressed. He was absolutely sure that it was the best Wit-Sharpening Potion a student has ever brewed from several years of teaching at Hogwarts.

“It is acceptable, Ms. Ashmore,” commented Snape.

Well at least that was better than expected Cherie thought, there were no insults this time. A moment later, without any more words, he turned to his class and went to make sure the rest of his students were not causing any havoc. 

“He’s hard to please, that one. I’m telling you.” George said.

Cherie got so carried away trying to redeem herself to Snape with her potion that she almost forgot about her detention after class. She started to panic more as her class was coming closer and closer to an end. After the class tidied up their ingredients and caldrons, she realised it was completely her fault that she was the only one in detention as she decided to help all her other Slytherin classmates with their essay. With regret pooling in her stomach, she didn’t know how this day could get any worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely comments!
> 
> Sorry for the late update, I had to fly back for uni and get ready for the upcoming semester.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter


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